New Apple TV with Siri & App Store Announced, Release Due in October
Apple has released an all new Apple TV with a completely redesigned interface, Siri interactivity for browsing and controlling the device, an App Store, and a new hardware controller with touch capabilities and motion detection.
The new Apple TV is aimed at media viewing and casual gaming, with some pretty interesting features and new interaction methods available through Siri.
Technical specs of the new Apple TV are as follows:
- A8 CPU
- HDMI, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, IR
- New remote control with touchpad, accelerometer and gyroscope, dedicated Siri button, volume control
- Siri voice control
- App Store with apps
- Runs tvOS, which is based on iOS (which is based on OS X), but built for the living room
- 3rd party controllers support, ability to use iPhone and iPod touch as additional controllers for multiplayer games
The new Apple TV is really best shown than described, and Apple has put together a great video demonstrating the new features:
The new hardware box looks similar, but the remote itself is completely different.
The Siri interactivity with Apple TV can do everything from search shows and movies, rewind and pause video, get live weather reports, sports scores, play music, and perform other device functions.
The new Apple TV is priced $149 for 32GB, $199 for 64GB, and the older generation model will stick around at $69.
You’ll be able to buy the new Apple TV in “late October”.
Will the older Apple TV be eligible for an OS update to the fancy new tvOS?? If yes, then I will just get the older $69 model instead if not then I am really inclined to getting the one that runs the latest and the greatest software, plus the new hardware is compelling. Siri, please give me a hint on which one to get here…
Still no way to plug in external media? Still not worth the small space it consumes.
In the Apple video it looked like it had a USB-C port or whatever that new fangled port is called.
Reading further into it, Apple list’s the port as “for service only”.
Apple TV’s are way overpriced. I’ll stick with my Fire TV.
Fire is the best hardware for everyday people! I 100% believe that. But $69 to complete your mac setup at home is not overpriced. Finally after years and years of speculation and wait, $150-$200 for a new box released with major updates will be an easy sell. Assuming you’ll only need one “NEW” ATV, these last for years and your older ones can move into other rooms.